Door for digesters.



No. 653,503. Patented July It], I900. P-. F. DUNIJON.

DOOR FOB DIGESTEBS.

(Application filed Mar. 80, 1900.)

(No Model.)

WITNESSES QATTOHNEYS U ITED- STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PATRICK F. DUNDON, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

DOOR FOR DIG ESTERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 653,503, dated July 10, 1900. A li ation fil d March 30, 1900. $erisl No. 10,836- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PATRICK F. DUNDON, a citizen of the United States, residing at San Francisco, county of San Francisco,and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hermetically-Sealing Doors; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forminga part of this specification.

My invention relates to doors for hermetically sealing retorts, digesters, or other vessels that sustain internal pressure, and to certain improvements in devices for hinging, closing, and securely sealing such doors, being an improvement on an invention described in Letters Patent No.4l8,867, granted to me on the 7th day of January, 1890, for an improved discharge-door for steam digests and retorts.

My present improvements consist in two or more bars that span the doors, bearing usually at four points thereon, so selected as to equalize the pressure around the sealed joints and utilize the full strength of the dooritself in resisting the compressing strain; also, consists in the manner of hinging the doors by means of the bearing-bars and a compensating link pivoted coincident therewith, and in other structuraldevices that front elevation of one of my improved sealing-doors and the frame on which it is mounted. Fig. II is a top view of the same door and part of a cylinder or retort to be closed by the door. Fig. III is a section on the line a a in FigpII looking in the direction indicated by the arrowatA in Fig. II. Fig. IV is a view in perspective of one of the pressing bars, also forming a hinge for the door.

In sealing=doors of the class here illus- The vessel 1 can be of any form and for 1 any purpose requiring a sealing-door made of plates and riveted to the door-frame 3, as shown in Fig. III, or cast integrally therewith, as circumstances may require. The

door 2 is of a curved or dished form to give 7 it strength and reinforced by ribs 4 on the inside, as shown in Fig. III. The pressurebars 5 are of a'deep section, curved at the ends 6 to fit between the lugs 7 on the doorframe 3, forming hinges by which the door is supported and on which it swings when opened or closed. The door 2 closes on an elastic gasket 9, that can be inserted in a groove in either the door 2 or the frame 3 in the usual manner and is pressed inward by the bars 5 and cams 10, as shown in Fig. II. The bars 5 are adjustably attached to the door 2 by means of the housings 11, which fit loosely over the reinforced bosses 12, through which pass the compression-screws 13, that bear upon the door, as seen in Fig. III. The cams 10 are supported on the links 14:, that are held by lugs 15, cast on the head 3, and when out of use are swung out of the way, as indicated by dotted lines at B in Fig. II. These cams are provided with short handles that serve except for the opening and final closing force, when a socket-lever 17 is applied.

The housings 11, as will be seen, permit some play of the bars 5, and the door 2 is not held rigidly thereby. To prevent lost or undesirable motion of this kind, I provide the radius-links 18, attached to the lug 19 on the door-frame and lug 22 on the door, the fixed pivot 20 being coaxial with the pivots 21 of the bars 5. The cams 10 are made with more or less eccentricity, as the amount of pressure required, and when set for closing, as in Fig. II, the extreme of the eccentric passes the point of impingement, so the cam is locked or held against accidental release. In this 2 ersasea manner it will be seen that the tendency of the door 2 to turn in its flat plane about the pivots 21 is resisted by the links 18, thus producing the efiect of closely-fitting hinges and a true and steady movement of the door in opening and closing.

In operating, the door 2 is closed, the links supporting the cam are swung into place between the jaws 7 on the bars 5, and the cams are then turned to the position shown in Fig. II, so their flattened faces will bear against the bars 5. The screws 13 are then screwed down on the door 2, pressing it on its seat until there is no leak, and pressure is evenly distributed over the door. To open the door, the socket-bar 17 is applied, the cam 10 turned until loosened, the bar 17 is removed, and the cam 10 swung out of the way, as indicated at B in Fig. II. The door 2 is then free to swing open. On again closing, the pressure exerted by the screws 13 will be the same as before; but if there is any leak or want of pressure these screws can be severally adjusted to produce any desired strain upon the door generally or upon any corner thereof.

I claim as my invention- 1. In a hermetically-closing door, a pressure-bar 5, curved at one end and slotted at the other, the curved end connected to the frame on which the door closes by a hinged connection, in combination with a link and cam pivoted to the frame and cooperating with said bar at the slotted end, and compression-screws 13, substantially as specified.

2. In a hermetically-closing door, the pressing-bars 5 pivoted to the door-frame and form-,

ingsupporting-hinges for the door, the adj usting-screws 13 bearing upon the door and distributin g the pressure thereon at four or more points, and the housings 11 to connect the door and the pressing-bars, combined and operating substantially as specified.

3. In a hermetically-closing door, pressing bars to force the door upon its seat, bearing at four or more points thereon, forming also hinges for the door, and in combination therewith the radius-links l8 pivoted in the same axial line as the pressing-bars and holding the door in adjustment thereon, substantially as specified.

4. In a hermetically-closing door, the pressing-bars 5, provided with the adjusting-screws 13 to bear at four or more points on the door, forming also supporting-hinges for the same, the housings 11, links 18, and cams to force the pressure-bars against the door, combined and operating in the manner substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

PATRICK F. DUNDON.

IVitnesses:

P. W. J. LANDER, ALFRED A. ENoUIs'r. 

